No Age

Who? Los Angeles duo Dean Spunt (drums/vocals) and Randy Randall (guitars) assumed the No Age identity in 2006 after the demise of their hardcore trio, Wives. Where the previous act relied more on sound blasts (i.e.: Rapeman, Minutemen, Arab on Radar), Spunt and Randall provoke more thought with this new project, which takes the shape of a cerebral Black Dice/My Bloody Valentine meld on Fat Cat’s 2007 full-length, Weirdo Rippers.

What’s the Deal?Weirdo Rippers is the sound of influences and genres clashing in a bloody heap of surgically precise mayhem. The soothing opening of “Every Artist Needs a Tragedy” bleeds into a gritty garage wail, while “Dead Plane” meanders from atmospheric tonality and dreamy guitar lulls into a buzzing, tone-deaf Ramones-esque romp. “Semi-Sorted” develops like a sublime Teenage Blackout work, blending an industrial hum and swell with a pulsing cadence worthy of the best Liars material. Not everything is hybrid — “Boy Void” is a straight up basher, and at any given point, the epic “Escarpment” feels as if three distinct ambient tracks are blanketed amongst each other, creating chaos and decay alongside marvelous sonic layers.

Fun Fact: During the band’s 2007 performance at SXSW, things got a little rowdy for No Age. “We got kicked out of our showcase because they didn’t like how loud we were, and they said that all our friends were going “crazy” while we played,” Dean Spunt tells SPIN.com. “Then the bouncer grabbed Randy, and Randy started kissing him. The dude wanted to kick his ass so hard. We snuck out the back, and went to get vegan burritos.”

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